Monday, 23 January 2017

Islamic State blows up hotel to prevent landing in west Mosul, witnesses say

Islamic State blows up hotel to prevent landing in west Mosul, witnesses say

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Islamic State detonated explosives in the largest
hotel in western Mosul on Friday, in an attempt to destroy it and
prevent Iraqi forces from using it as a landing spot or base in their
offensive to capture the city, witnesses said on Sunday.
The Mosul Hotel, shaped as a step pyramid, appeared to be leaning to
one side after the explosions, said two witnesses contacted by phone,
requesting anonymity as the militants punish by death those caught
communicating with the outside world.
The Mosul Hotel sits alongside the Tigris river that cuts the city
into two halves. The explosion comes as Iraqi forces appear about to
take full control of the eastern side and prepare to attack the western
bank.
Iraqi forces launched in October a campaign backed by a U.S.-led
coalition to take back Mosul from the hardline Sunni group which
captured the city in 2014, declaring from its Grand Mosque a “caliphate”
that also spanned parts of Syria.
Mosul is the last major city stronghold under Islamic State control in Iraq.